Washington is filled with debate and discussion about the economic burden of the federal income tax, which collected $1.13 trillion in FY2012 ($1.37 trillion if you include the corporate income tax). Yet politicians rarely consider the economic impact of payroll…
Daily Analysis
Class Warfare Tax Policy Causes Portugal to Crash on the Laffer Curve, but Will Obama Learn from this Mistake?
Back in mid-2010, I wrote that Portugal was going to exacerbate its fiscal problems by raising taxes. Needless to say, I was right. Not that this required any special insight. After all, no nation has ever taxed its way to prosperity. We’re now at the end of 2012 and…
Once Obama’s Policies Are Implemented Next Year, U.S. Capital Gains Tax Rate Will be 70 percent Higher than Global Average
Back in September, I shared a very good primer on the capital gains tax from the folks at the Wall Street Journal, which explained why this form of double taxation is so destructive. I also posted some very good analysis from John Goodman about the issue….
Obama’s Deadly Plan for the Death Tax
In some ways, it would be fun to be a leftist. No, I’m not talking about living a life of idleness and letting others pay my bills, though I suppose that’s tempting to some people. And I’m not talking about becoming a Washington insider and using corrupt connections…
What’s the Best Response When Crony Capitalists From Big Business Endorse Higher Taxes on Their Small Business Competitors?
I’m a big fan of lower corporate tax rates. I also want to eliminate worldwide taxation so American companies can be on a level playing field when competing for market share around the world. And I want to get rid of the double taxation of dividends and capital gains…
Time to Get Rid of Tax Preferences for Housing in the Internal Revenue Code
Even though I knew some people would call me Scrooge, I wrote a few days ago about why we should get rid of the tax deduction for charitable contributions in exchange for lower tax rates. Simply stated, I’m a big advocate of fundamental tax reform, and I would like to…
Gerard Depardieu Meets John Galt
Another Frenchman has “gone Galt.” First, it was France’s richest entrepreneur. Now, it’s the nation’s most famous actor. Gerard Depardieu has officially announced – in a letter to France’s thuggish Prime Minister – that he is tired of paying 85 percent of his income…
New Evidence Shows States with No Income Tax Grow Faster and Create More Jobs
One of the key ways of controlling state and local tax burdens, according to this map from the Tax Foundation, is to not have an income tax. But that’s not too surprising. States have just a couple of ways of generating significant tax revenue, so it stands to reason…
A Case Study of How Interest Groups “Milk” the Public
Since I want to shut down the Department of Agriculture, that obviously means getting rid of the various subsidy programs that line the pockets of politically connected agri-businesses. To get an idea of how these corrupt programs operate, I strongly encourage you to…
For Both Policy Reasons and Political Reasons, the Fiscal Cliff is Better Than Surrender
It’s never a good idea to display weakness during negotiations. Your opponent will sense your fear and up his demands. That’s certainly what we’re seeing in Washington. The cartoon at this link captures the GOP’s wobbly attitude on taxes, and this interview is about…